And They’re Off

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The Grand National Handicap Steeplechase, to give what everyone calls simply “the National” its full and proper name, was first run at Aintree racecourse in 1839. Since it was first covered on radio in 1927, and certainly since the first live television broadcast by the BBC in 1960, the Grand National has been part of the calendar of British life. Along with the Boat Race and the FA Cup Final, the National marks out the sporting spring, just as the Derby, the Lord’s Test and Wimbledon demarcate the sporting summer.